Your Home

Put Your Vacation Home To Work For You

Posted: 12/18/2013

Committing with a professional management company can help you turn vacant weeks at your vacation home into additional revenue.

(NAPSI)—If you are fortunate enough to own a second home—or hope to someday—your family likely enjoys many vacations and spur-of-the-moment getaways there. Still, life’s commitments probably mean there are weeks your vacation property sits vacant. Renting out your home can open up a significant stream of revenue and is one way to see a return on your investment even when you aren’t there. But understanding the business side first is critical for avoiding hassles.

Your Options

Before you dive in, it’s important to understand the different renting options. One option is renting your property out independently, taking on the necessary marketing and management efforts yourself. Listing sites help owners post their properties online and match travelers with available places. Once a match is made, however, the onus falls on the owner to handle the rest. According to a recent study, owners spend, on average, over eight hours a week marketing and managing their vacation properties, a heavy time commitment to consider. From finding renters and handling requests to coordinating stays and responding to maintenance problems, the personal involvement required by the rent-by-owner model can outweigh the benefits.

To help you take advantage of the added income supplement of renting your vacation property without having to invest significant time, professionally managed vacation rental companies can be a great option. When you commit your property with a vacation rental management firm, you’re relieved of the operational legwork. Typically, these firms assume responsibility for marketing and managing your property and taking care of guests’ experiences.

Professional management companies can also help drive occupancy and maximize revenue by leveraging the power of their brand and resources. For example, Wyndham Vacation Rentals, the world’s largest professionally managed vacation rentals company, combines the strength of a trusted global hospitality brand with local expertise. The company is known not only for providing owners with a comprehensive range of services, but for offering a host of unique benefit programs, such as exclusive deals and discounts and an exciting vacation exchange program. Unlike other professional management companies, Wyndham Vacation Rentals also gives owners an important marketing tool-an industry-first Vacation Rental Bill of Rights that lets guests know they’ll be taken care of every step of the way.